Something In Common
by colbert-238
Summary: A creative and original story about Akko discovering that Diana still collects Shiny Chariot cards. This is my idea, I did it first, everybody else shut up.


**Something In Common**

Akko sat up in her bed for what felt like the hundredth time tonight. The pitch black room around her offered little in terms of amusement, and the muffled sounds of both Lotte and Sucy sleeping peacefully were beginning to feel like a cruel joke. Even without the aid of a mirror, she was certain her eyes were bloodshot, and her tired legs weren't exactly screaming at her to get up, but for some reason, she just couldn't fall asleep.

After a solid minute of pouting solved nothing, she decided to get up and stretch her legs a bit. She carefully threw on her uniform and tiptoed out the door. The school halls were a touch brighter than her room, with the occasional lantern giving off a small circle of orange and red light. A few twists and turns through the halls didn't accomplish much, other than getting her lost for a moment. Her legs felt no worse for wear, and her eyelids were actually starting to feel lighter. The thought that she may not get any sleep at all tonight hit her hard, and she decided to spin right back around.

However, before she could reach the hall leading back to her room, a faint outline in the distance caught her attention. Immediately waking up fully, she made a bold leap for the side of the hall, pressing her body flat against it and taking in a deep breath of air. She stayed as still as she could and held her breath as the sound of footsteps approaching her location became audible. Soon enough, the sound reached her.

She had to stop herself from gasping at the sight of Diana walking by, mere inches from her hiding spot. Thankfully, the girl's eyes were preoccupied with a large book held firm in her hands. Diana continued down the hall and took the next right turn, allowing Akko the freedom to finally take another breath. She wiped away a few beads of sweat and mentally congratulated herself on a successful stealth attempt.

"Wait a minute," she said to herself, making sure the sound barely left her lips. "Students aren't allowed out in the halls this late. Was _Diana_ seriously just breaking a rule?" She couldn't help the sly grin that resulted from this revelation. For someone who was constantly playing the role of a perfect student, it seemed somewhat out of character for Diana to be anywhere except where she was supposed to be at this hour. Surely there was more to this than she was seeing? There had to be…unless…

That did it. Her curiosity now peaked, she pulled a quick one-eighty and took several large strides to try and catch up with Diana. It didn't take her very long. Apparently, wherever Diana was headed, she wasn't in much of a hurry. Akko caught up with her target at the very end of the next hallway, where a pair of glass doors led into the school's main courtyard. Diana's eyes never left the book in her hands as she pushed the doors open and stepped outside. Naturally, as any stalker would, Akko let Diana get a few steps ahead before following her out the door.

A crisp breeze hit her face as the chill night air filled her lungs. She held back a hard sigh, accepting the fact that she'd never get a decent night of sleep now. Crouching behind the bushes along the edge of the courtyard, she squinted her eyes to see through the darkness. Diana stopped near the center of the courtyard and sat down at a nearby bench, gently placing her book beside her.

Akko was forced to duck below the bush as Diana looked around the courtyard, but in doing so, she spotted another person entering the area. The person's head was shrouded in darkness by a hood, and they were dressed in a dark cloak that covered them from head to toe. No matter how hard Akko squinted, she was unable to make out the person's face as they walked unknowingly by her.

Peering through the bushes, she watched as the new person approached Diana, who stood up to greet them. Diana started to say something, but was cut off by the person passing her a small item Akko couldn't place from this distance. The other person didn't even stop, turning as soon as their hands were empty and heading for the closest entrance to the school. Diana seemed puzzled for a moment, but quickly shook it off and sat back down.

Akko searched her mind for an answer to what she'd just witnessed. At first, the thought that Diana might have a secret lover crossed her mind, but that seemed pretty unlikely now. She hadn't heard much of anything about romance in her short time here; only a few rumors here and there. And even if that was the case, having a lover that only meets up long enough to pass you something and then bails isn't much of a sizzler.

She then thought of a more logical answer: in that Diana was out here late at night to receive whatever had just been passed to her. Quickly accepting that as the truth, she was then overcome with curiosity as to what Diana had received. She'd already come this far, what was a little more snooping going to hurt?

After making sure Diana wasn't about to move, Akko left her prickly cover behind and started slinking through the grass on her stomach. She couldn't decide if doing this made her look cool or goofy, but it got the job done either way. Once the back of the bench was only a few inches away, she started to slowly push herself up, just enough to look at Diana's lap. In the course of doing this, she had to keep ignoring a strange tickling on the top of her left hand. When that feeling intensified, she was left with no choice but to look down.

There was no holding back the high pitched scream that resulted from seeing a large, black spider perched on her hand. She shook her hand wildly while screaming bloody murder. Diana, not being deaf, heard this and quickly jumped up.

Akko felt a rush of relief after shaking the spider away, and a rush of fear one second later when a lit wand was shoved in front of her face.

"Stay back!" Diana yelled in a harsh tone, "I…Akko!?"

Akko's face was made visible by the light of Diana's wand. Frozen in fear, all she could force herself to do was look up and meet Diana's eyes. "Hi Diana," she said sheepishly.

To her credit, Diana pulled her wand back immediately. "What are you doing out here, Akko? Students aren't allowed outside their rooms this late at night."

After taking a moment to get over her recent string of dramatic experiences, Akko stood up and dusted herself off. "I couldn't sleep," she answered truthfully. "I was just going for a quick walk to tire myself out when I saw you. You were so lost in your book, you didn't even notice me." As she finished speaking, Akko sat down on the bench and looked down at the book Diana had been carrying.

"Don't!" Diana snatched up the book before Akko could read the title, and held it tight against her chest. "Please, just go back to your room, Akko. I…uh…have…um…something…"

As much as she enjoyed watching Diana struggle to come up with a decent lie, Akko decided to cut her off. "Okay, you're acting _me_ weird, Diana. What's going on? Why's that book so important to you? And who was that other person who was just here?"

At first, it looked like Diana might make a run for it. The girl eyed every exit to the courtyard before looking back at Akko, and eventually letting out a tired sigh. "Okay," Diana said, her stance finally relaxing. "You win, Akko. I guess you're probably one of the few witches who wouldn't laugh at me for this, anyway."

Akko didn't have time to ask what Diana meant by that. The book in Diana's arms was lowered into a thin shaft of moonlight. Upon readings its title, Akko felt an overwhelming rush of excitement.

"No way!?" she screamed. " _You_ collect Shiny Chariot ca–"

A soft hand was planted over Akko's mouth. Diana brought a finger to her lips before taking a look around. "Please keep it down," Diana whispered. "As you said, we're not supposed to be out here right now. I'm…not exactly used to breaking the rules, so I'd really prefer it if we weren't caught."

Akko nodded her understanding, and Diana removed her hand. It took all of the restraint Akko could muster to keep her voice at a decent level. She had so many questions she wanted to ask right now, but it was pretty clear Diana wasn't comfortable enough to handle the verbal barrage she wanted to unload. Instead, she decided on one question and tried to ask it as calmly as possible.

"You told me witches don't care about Shiny Chariot anymore. Are you ashamed about still liking her or something?"

Maybe it was the moonlight playing tricks on her eyes, but for a moment, Akko thought she saw a faint hint of red on Diana's cheeks. The girl met her eyes with a solemn stare. "It's…not what you think," Diana started, clearly searching for the right words. "I'll admit, when I was younger, Chariot's performances may have…enthralled me to _some_ extent, but I grew out of that."

"But you still collect the cards?" Akko asked.

Diana tensed up a bit. "Well…yes, but…" a short silence followed. Akko leaned in a bit closer as the girl whispered her answer. "I…just think they're cute; they're fun to look at."

"Oh my god, right!?" This time, Akko covered her own mouth. From that point forward, she tried her best to keep her frantic words to a whisper. "Sorry, but I _completely_ agree with you. The person they got to do the art is _insanely_ talented. Have you seen their website? And I always _loved_ the design on the back of the cards; how it managed to be so simple and yet so _immediately_ recognizable. And—"

"Remember to breath, Akko," Diana said with a thin smile. "Thanks for not making fun of me for this. I should've known you'd understand, considering you're, well, _you_."

Akko tried to make it look like she was listening, but the truth was that she was still lost in her own thoughts. "Wait a minute," she said, grabbing the book out of Diana's hands and rapidly flipping through its pages. "This means I _finally_ have someone to play against."

"Oh, n-no," Diana was quick to shoot her down. "I don't know how to play the actual game. Honestly, I don't even buy the cards myself; I have people who work for my family go out and find them for me."

Akko slammed the book shut. "I can teach you!" she whispered as loud as she could, insuring Diana could hear the sheer determination in her voice. "It's not a very hard game once you know the rules. Please, Diana, I've _never_ had a friend with a complete deck before."

The word friend slipped out before she could stop it. Diana took a quick step back. The blush on her face was now far easier to see. "I…I mean, we really should be getting back to our rooms, don't you think?"

Akko knew it was a low blow, but she was determined to not let this opportunity pass her by. Tossing her pride aside, she looked up at Diana with two wide eyes, and puffed out a quivering bottom lip. "You really do hate me, don't you?" she asked in an overly dramatic tone.

"What?" Diana asked, sounding like the question seriously took her off guard. "No, I don't. I hate several things _about_ you, and almost everything you _do_ , but I don't hate _you_ as a person."

The cutesy look on Akko's face disappeared. "Okay, I was just being playful, but that _actually_ hurt."

Diana took a moment to regain her composure. The girl was then able to meet Akko's eyes with a straight face. "One game," Diana said, the smallest hint of a smile on the corners of her lips. "But after that you have to go straight to your—whoa!"

Akko put a hand on Diana's shoulder and pushed her back onto the bench beside them. There, she opened the book on her lap and looked for just the right card to start the girl's lesson.

Several minutes passed as she went through the rules of her favorite game. Most of her explanation was quoted straight from the official guide book, which she'd memorized word for word as a child. She was used to people tapping out after just a few sentences, but Diana sat beside her the entire time. The girl's blue eyes shined bright in the moonlight as they grazed over every card Akko picked out, and for every convoluted, borderline nonsensical rule Akko blurted out, Diana nodded and told her to continue.

By the time they'd gone through almost every card in Diana's book, Akko was forced to let out a powerful yawn, and Diana quickly followed with one of her own.

"I think I understand," Diana said.

"Seriously?" Akko asked.

Akko couldn't help but laugh, and was shocked beyond belief when Diana joined in with a polite chuckle of her own.

"However, there's still _one_ thing I don't get," Diana leaned in closer to the book and pointed to one of the cards on the page Akko had open. "This card…no, wait, that's not the one. The one that has _this_ design but with a different color scheme, what role did that play again?"

"Oh, hold on a sec," Akko flipped through a few pages of the book. "You mean this one right…"

"Here," Diana finished for her. While doing this, the girl reached her hand down to point at a specific card. Ordinarily this would be fine, except that Akko had done the exact same thing at the exact same time. As a result, their hands were now right next to each other on the page.

Akko felt a rush of blood hit her face as Diana's fingertips lightly grazed her own. Unsure of how to respond, she looked up to meet Diana's eyes, and was surprised to see that the other girl's gaze was transfixed on their hands.

"Hey! I see you two out there!" The sudden call of an adult's voice turned both girl's heads. "Return to your rooms this instant!"

By the time Akko turned her head back around, Diana was already standing up with her book in hand. "I can't let them see it's me," the girl said, her voice shaking. "I have to go now."

Akko, the queen of getting in trouble at this point, was far less hasty about standing up. "I understand," she said with a single nod. "Maybe we can play some other time?"

Diana looked down to meet Akko's eyes. "Yes," she answered with a wide smile. "Yes, I would enjoy that very much."

Waving goodbye as the girl ran off, Akko stood up and slowly started the long walk back to her room. Along the way, she felt a strong urge to study the hand Diana had touched. She may never find out what would've happened had that moment not been interrupted, but one thing was for sure: the goosebumps running up her arm wouldn't be going away anytime soon.


End file.
